The document discusses different types of work schedules and contracts that employees may have. It describes day and night shifts that typically run from Monday to Friday. It also discusses freelance work, which has no fixed hours, and irregular work patterns with rotating shifts 24/7. The document outlines how employees should be paid hourly wages or overtime, and are entitled to at least minimum wage. Piecework is also described, where employees are paid per completed task.

1. Assignment 2c
When you are accepted to work at a particular company, your employer will address and assign you
the times you will be coming in. Shift work can be defined as a ‘work schedule that utilises 24 hours
a day and occasionally, 7 days a week, to keep an organisation operating. Once you come to the end
of your assigned hours, the next employee will come into work doing their shift, so the business will
carry on operating as usual. For example, you are allocated a shift from 12-9pm; you are obligated to
carry out the tasks given to you. Many retail companies close around 7pm, and if you are still
working, your job will be to re-stock all products and improve the presentation for the next morning.
There are certain circumstances where you have other priorities like going to university, meetings or
even you are ill, you have to inform the company so they can get someone else to fill in your shift.
However, there are several disadvantages regarding situations in which people phone in sick.
Employees who enjoy their work will try their upmost best to try minimise being ill, as it will increase
the workload on other workers.
Going back to the point I made about negotiating times in which you are available to work, there are
different types shifts in which people can work. They include:
Day shift – You are responsible for finishing off all the last minute preparations and getting
the store in good condition. Other than that, you are responsible for opening up the
business. Your typical day shift is naturally Monday to Friday, 0600-1400.
Night shift – According to the Working Time Solutions Company, they define this type of shift
as ‘this model covers typically, but not exclusively, Monday to Friday 2200-0600. The
alternative Sunday to Thursday stint tends to be popular with employees. The default cover
would be: 5 x 8 hours = 40 hours. When used in conjunction with 2-shift system, it gives 120
hours total. When used in isolation, 4 x 10 hour night shifts are popular. Meal breaks are
frequently but not exclusively paid. People who work on ‘Regular Nights’ often do so
because it suits them. It should not be assumed a revised system which includes some
rotation into days will be welcomed’.
Once the employer of a certain company accepts your application for a specific job role, the
employer will give you an ‘employment contract’ which will briefly outline how long you will be
working at the company for. Many contracts vary from short term (you may work at an organisation
for 2-3months) or a long-term contract (you may work at a company for a long period of time). A
very good example for this matter happens in the film industry. If a camera assistant is in on-going
negotiations with the production company, you will either be discussing a short-term or a long-term
deal. If your current deal expires, the production company have the right to whether they should
offer you a contract extension. Looking at this matter from another perspective other than film, the
UK’s governing body states that ‘if the employee has 2 years service, the employer will need to show
that there is a valid reason for not renewing your contract’. All companies are obligated to discuss
the type of contract they wish for you to sign, and add-ons regarding whether you do well or they
don’t want you to leave. However, once you reach the final stages of your contract it is very
important that the manager of a company will either offer new a contract extension or give a valid
explanation as to reasons they should not.
The rules of office hours have changed over the last few years. Your traditional office hours are 9am5pm, Monday-Friday. Going back couple years, no company in the UK breached the traditional office

2. hours. Nowadays, people around the UK are working over these hours and are not getting a decent
worth of pay for their hard work. If you were to ask people ‘what is office hours’, they may
stereotypically state ‘people who work in offices for their assigned times’. Well that is not the case.
There are many matters regarding how people are being given a large workload. Teachers today
have to do so much work and are giving up their own time do plan out their future lessons. After
having a discussion with my tutor regarding how teacher and student relationships have faded away
over the last year or two. Some of the ‘key’ points from the conversation were how teachers have a
lot of work to do, that most of them are giving up their lunch breaks to things that are required by
them. All of this is down to the government bringing in new laws.
According to the Home Business website, freelance work is defined as ‘A freelancer is someone who
performs tasks, usually for multiple employers over the course of a year’. People who are freelancers
often have no fixed time working hours, so they come into works whenever they want. All
freelancers will not be classified as an official ‘employee’ because they are not at the company
everyday and they are not permitted to perform certain tasks. Also, freelancers will have a decision
as to whether they may work on a part-time or full-time basis. If I was an account manager for a
television production company, I would not be coming into work everyday, as there is a lot of work
for me to do. A lot of the tasks such as managing the portfolio and accounts of the production will
mostly take place outside of the production. You will be taking so much time out to get the
production company, by attending meetings and meeting serious deadlines.
Irregular work patterns are were people work different shifts at different times. This type of shift can
either be a continuous 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, or a constant running 2-3 shifts per day ad it
does not have to include the weekends. This may only happen if someone phones in stating reasons
why, the company will have to get someone else to fill in. This may require then rotating their shifts.
So, you may be working day, afternoon, night or midnight shifts.
Under the scheme of a company an employee has a contract stating how many hours they will be
working at the company. All companies are obligated to pay their employees for the work they but
into the business. However, if you are working on a voluntary basis, they are not obligated to pay
you. The hourly rates are calculated by the amount of hours you work and the quantity of work you
have done. Employees who are paid on an hourly basis are required to be paid at least minimum
wage. However, people who are working over their allocated times are entitled to be paid over time
wages, if only you have worked over 40 years per week. In the film industry, the job role of a
production manager is very demanding and they may have to work over-time. The role of a
production manager will require you to develop schedules of a breakdown to how the production
will run through a period of time. There are several jobs that you have to ensure before going
forward with the production; from monitoring budget available and checking to see whether you
have the appropriate equipment and resources. Moving away from the film industry, the chancellor
of the UK, George Osborne is attempting to abolish the Labour and Liberal Democrats coalition, by
stating his intentions on increasing the UK national minimum wage. He believes that the jump from
£6.34 to £7 will not harm the UK’s economy, even though they have been in recession since 2007.
Piecework is any type of employment, whether it is in financial or in retail, which a worker is paid a
fixed ‘piece rate’. In other terms, an employee is paid money for each task/activity they complete.
This is a situation in which employers have to pay you the mandatory minimum wage. There are

3. several people in the UK who work at home and they are known as ‘output workers’. Bestowing the
government services website, they clearly state that if you’re an ‘output worker’ your employer will
have to choose between paying you:
The National Minimum Wage for every hour you work
A ‘fair’ piece rate for all the products you produce and all of the tasks you perform.
Bibliography
http://workingtime-solutions.com/leaner/shift-patterns/
http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossarys/g/shift_work.htm
https://www.gov.uk/fixed-term-contracts/renewing-or-ending-a-fixedterm-contract
http://www.theguardian.com/education/teachersworkload
http://homebusiness.about.com/od/homebusinessglossar1/g/freelancer.htm
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/chancellor-surprises-vince-cable-with-call-forincrease-to-minimum-wage-9065481.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piece_work